Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1887-11-23
MAKING a MOUTH.

MAKING "a MOUTH.
fortunate Predicament OF a Stat
en- Island Infant.
a Girl Who Was Born with the Osculato-
~ and Smelling Organs in One-Her
Treatment in the New York
Hospital. ",
Florence Trimball is such wee little bit
Of q thing that she could almost drop out of
sight in quart cup. Though SO small and
tender, she has had enough torture to make
her heart sick, and if she has any thought
at all about her surroundings, remarks the
New York correspondent Of the New Or
leans Iinaes-Denlocrat, she must wonder
what she was ever born for.
She was born with most peculiar and
unusual deformity. In fact, there is only
one other case of the kind recorded, and
that was not as marked in several features.
The mouth Of the child was put in the face
in the wrong spot.
There is quite a history to the case from q
professional standpoint Several months
before Florence was born young boy came
to visit Mrs. Trimball. At this time some
repairs were being made upon her house at
Staten Island. While the boy was playing
in the yard on one occasion q Ratchet
slipped from a carpenters hand A warn
ing shout was given. This caused the boy
to look up just as the Ratchet reached him,
and the sharp edge struck him fairly on the
nose, splitting it and the upper lip open.
Mrs. Trimban heard the yell, ran into the
yard, picked up the unconscious boy, car
ried him in, dropped him on bed and
tainted away.
She came to in little while, but several
other fainting attacks came on and it was
several hours before the effects of the
fright she had received had passed away.
In few weeks the boy was taken home,
but that horrible gaping wound was never
out of Mrs. Trimball's mind. When the
child was born what looked like bright,
red line ran through the center Of the child's
lips and nose. When the youngster cried
at the cold and cheerlessness Of this world,
the red line trembled and opened. Horror
upon horrors! 1t was the child's mouth.
Where the mouth ought to be there was
only blank space, but there it Was, lips
and all, in the center of the face, and run
mouth is found in we'll behaved children
generally. The child was able to take foou
through the opening, though in a very
awkward manner. The upper end of the
mouth split the nose in two between the
nostrils. There was no other defect in the
nose.
AT the end Of two weeks the child was
brought to the city, on the advice Of the
family physician. and placed in the child's
ward Of the New York Hospital for treat
ment 1t was pretty tough case to tackle,
but the doctors thought that it would be an
excellent subject for experimental surgery,
and it was not many hours before they be-
gan work. A small electric bulb was put
in the patients mouth, and by the aid of the
light good view of the internal parts was
had. The tongue, jaw and roof of the mouth
were slightly twisted and out Of form, but
on the whole the conditions were very
promising of success.
The nose and upper lip of the patient were
thorough saturated with cocaine by injec-
ton, and when needle could be run
throlg Oh the nose with only slight twinge,
the knife was set to work.
The vermilion in the lips was cut out
down to the white skin. This was readily
done, as the nostrils were much wider than
usual to accommodate the opening. There
was profuse hemorrhage, and the kicking
and squirming of the child made it difficult
to handle. When the bleeding was finally
stopped the two parts were brought into
position and sutured. The patient seemed
to be so much affected that nothing further
was done at this time. The bandages were
not disturbed for twenty-four hours, and
then the wound presented a beastly appear
fyo f,,ho ,rrI,
one of the nostrils, every three hours after
ward, and food was pumped through it into
the stomach. 1t was the only channel open
and had to be taken advantage of, though
there was great danger that some of the
milk might get into the windpipe, as the
breathing had also to be done through the
nostril entirely. This was avoided with
great skill.
The wound healed rapidly, as is usually
the case with children, and the edges having
been beveled there seemed to be a good fit,
and there was promise that there would be
only slight scar. The mouth having been
closed, in order that Florence could have
her fill of ice cream and other dainties when
she grew up, another one had to be made to
order. Cocaine was used again, and this
time with much greater success than before,
as the child rarely cried with pain, and her
head could be firmly held without jerking.
The surgeon tried to find o. dsculariS orr.
This is the little muscle that makes circle
around the mouth and gives it many of its
motions. It was so family developed that
there was no certainty in placing it, and the
incision had to be made at random, running
in horizontal direction, at a point where
the relative distances between the nose and
chin and mouth were maintained.
The incsion was made little larger than
necessary through the tissue to allow for
contraction. There was considerable bleed
ing, and it was hard wor TX to keep the fluid
out of the child's throat. Fortunately the
upper and lower jaws were not much out Of
plumb and could be readily moved, and did
not require any cutting. There was slight
assure in the superior auxiliary, where the
passage from the first mouth was put, but
it was deemed best not to do any thing for it
until after several days. In order to keep
the artificial lips from being closed up, a
thin ivory wedge was put between them,
and held in position by adhesive plaster.
Then the wound was bandaged. The feed
ing was kept up through the nose, and the
youngster seemed to like the novelty of it.
The ivory was taken out every day, while
the wound was washed. and at the end Of
A. - kho hol